ON PRO FOOTBALL

ON PRO FOOTBALL; The Old Gunslinger Outdraws the Young Gun

By Timothy W. Smith

Published: October 24, 1994

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.—
The word had gotten around. Throw the ball deep at Rod Woodson and more than likely you'll hit on a big play. The only active cornerback in the league to be named to the 75th anniversary National Football League all-time team is a marked man. He's the gunslinger who is shaky on the draw. All the young guns want to test him.

It was Dave Brown's turn this afternoon. He made Woodson feel naked in front of 71,819 people at Giants Stadium on 3 occasions in the first quarter -- a 31-yarder to Arthur Marshall, a 44-yarder to Chris Calloway and a 21-yarder to Mike Sherrard.

"I looked up once and Calloway was making a one-handed catch on me," Woodson said. "The ball was going by my fingertips by an inch. That's one of those plays where you just have to shake your head, forget about it and go on to the next play."

To his credit, the 29-year-old Woodson did. And in the end, Woodson was cloaked in glory when he picked off a Brown pass at the Steelers' 41, returned it 25 yards to the Giants' 34 and helped set up Pittsburgh's game-winning touchdown -- a 6-yard run by Byron (Bam) Morris -- in the fourth quarter that helped give the Steelers a 10-6 victory.

"Receivers come in and they want to play well against me, because I'm All-Pro," Woodson said. "A lot of guys have had big games against me this year. But as long as they don't get in the end zone, I don't care. If I give up three big ones and we win the game, I'll give up three big ones every game."

Woodson said any decent quarterback who studied film of his last three games would have known that he was struggling.

"I'm the weakest of all the 11 players on defense right now," Woodson said. "And if you're an offensive player you've got to go for that. I expect that."

He knew that Brown was going to come after him. So, for much of the afternoon, Woodson and Brown played a kind of high-stakes cat and mouse. Brown, showing a lot of moxie, attacked the eight-year veteran with deep passes. But Woodson had done his homework on Brown and the Giants' offense. There were no surprises.

"A lot of young quarterbacks in the league always look at their receivers, more so than veteran quarterbacks," Woodson said. "Once he understands the offense more, he won't do it as much."

Woodson read Brown on two pivotal plays. The first was on a third-and-goal at the Steelers' 3 in the second quarter when Brown tried a quarterback draw and was stripped by Woodson at the 1. The ball was recovered by Steelers linebacker Kevin Greene at the 1.

"We knew every time they get close to the end zone that they spread their receivers out and use that quarterback draw," Woodson said.

Then in the fourth quarter, knowing that Brown hardly ever looks off receivers, Woodson played the young quarterback perfectly. On a third-and-8 at the Giants' 49, Woodson dropped back into zone coverage, staked out a position and watched Brown lock onto Calloway, who was running a crossing pattern underneath. Brown was so focused on Calloway that he didn't even see Woodson.

"He threw the ball right to me," Woodson said.

It was Woodson's second interception of the season. Woodson's teammate, safety Darren Perry, who also intercepted a Brown pass this afternoon, leads the league with six interceptions. Perry has watched Woodson, the league's defensive player of the year in 1993 and a five-time Pro Bowl selection, struggle this season. But Perry isn't worried.

"He's not getting beaten by receivers," Perry said. "He's had good coverage on every play. Today, Calloway made some terrific catches against him. We know that when we need him to make a play, he's going to be there."

Steelers Coach Bill Cowher isn't worried about receivers making plays against Woodson, either. He said that Woodson is such an integral part of other phases of the game -- including punt returns -- that he can't afford to have the cornerback get in a funk with so many games to play. Cowher has been encouraging Woodson to go into the film room and study himself to determine just what's going on.

"Bill said he thinks I'm a little too lax on the snap, maybe I'm playing off guys too much," Woodson said. "Maybe I should take a little more aggressive approach."

An aggressive approach was what Woodson was thinking about late in the game when he approached Cowher and asked the coach to send him on successive blitzes against Brown.

Cat and mouse.

With under 3 minutes to play, the Steelers ahead, 10-6, and the ball at the Giants' 25, Woodson indeed blitzed Brown from the corner on successive plays. On a second-and-10 from the Giants' 25, he wrapped up Brown and forced him to throw a 2-yard pass to tight end Aaron Pierce. On the next play, Woodson and safety Cornell Lake blitzed from opposite corners and Lake sacked Brown for a 4-yard loss. The Giants were forced to punt and the Steelers ran out the clock.

Woodson might have entered this game struggling, but he left the game with a team-high 11 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and two defended passes. And he gave his next opponent something to ponder when they wonder whether to continue testing him.